Coming from Sony A 77II crop sensor A mount cameras to a Sony a7 IV. I had a variety of good A mount lenses. When I got my A7 IV it made sense to keep my staple of A mount lensess and adapt them to use the E mount body of the A7 iV through a LA EA 5 adaptor. My old sigma crop sensor 17 to 70 vignetted terribly on the full frame sensor of the a 7 IV. I chose to replace that lens with a Sigma 24-105 f/4 (full frame
A mount) because the Sigma could be had for about 1/2 of the cost of the Similar spec'ed sony E mount offering ($1098) and the reviews said that the Sigma gave still results as good as the sony. I have been very pleased with the Sigma Art 24-105;

If, like me, you have several A mount lenses and nare more interested in results per dollar than in brand name bragging rights, I would suggest that you look into a Sigma 24-105 A mount Art series lens ($899.00) (I got mine for $550) plus a $250 LA EA5 adaptor which together cost a bunch less than the Sony branded offering.
Note however the the LA ea5 adaptor does not allow autofocus when shooting video (or is it auto exposure?) I don't shoot video so I ignored the lack of video automation through the La a5. but want you to be aware. Also be aware that the La EA5 adaptor may not be compatible with all Sony e mount bodies.

Who fills the potholes in this dirt road

I am guilty of not making my point clear. I failed to say that I was talking about elements of composition in image THERE IS A SAYING IN PHOTOGRAPHY "IF SOMETHING DOESN'T ADD TO YOUR IMAGE, IT DETRACTS FROM IT." Many photo compositions are made worse by having too much extraneous stuff in the image. Cropping, erasing and cloning distracting objects out of an image are time-honored composition techniques
Hence photo composition can become an exercise in subtracting stuff from the image . Painters , on the other hand, start from blank frame and add things to build up the composition.

IN THE AREA OF LANDSCAPE IMAGES Painters start with a blank canvas and add things to it. Photographers start with a world full of often random objects and must eliminate the non essentials. Thus photography is a subtractive art form while painting is additive. They are different but complimentary since the intent of both art forms is to arrive at approximately the same image. Photographers may study the compositions of painters and painters sometimes use photographs as starting places for the scenes they want to paint. Both use the same composition "rules" to guide the viewers eyes around within the edges (frame) of the artwork. Exceptional photos are "made" just as surely as are exceptional paintings The main difference is in the methods and tools of the making

My guess is next to last. The halo of light around the mountain is a strong hint.

Thanks to all who kindly offered their thoughts . Sorry pdsdville, I have no other photos of that scene.

This image "pulls" my eyes. I've not had that that uncomfortable viewing experience before. Can any one tell me why this image causes me eye strain?

(Download)

Sony A 7 IV has an Interval Shooting function. I just tried it out here at home before using it or the first time "On the scene". I got 60 discrete well exposed and well focused photos over a 6 minute shoot. Getting the photos is not the problem. I can see no way, with my Mac 27 inch 5 g display running Monterey OS 12.6 (The latest and greatest OS for Mac) , to string them together into a movie clip. My post processing software is Apple Photos, Luminar NEO, Luminar 4, Sony Imaging Edge, Aurora HDR 2019 v 1.01, Topaz SharpenPolarr Photo Editor Pro v 5.6.0, Raw Power v 3.4.8 and Starstax v 0So far zi have not discovered anything to turn a time lapse into a viewable movie clip.

I'm hoping that somewhere out there in UHH land, there is someone who has run across this problem and has a solution.

I faced the same lens choice dilemma when I changed to aq full frame Sony A 7 IV. I have a LA EA5 adaptor so U can use ny /a mount lenses. I needed a cl4-1

imho the last two photos are excellent samples of leading lines. In those two, the leading lines lead to something of iinterestt the rest seem to just dump my traveling eye into nothingness. To my opinion, leading lines are a tool, not a subject in a photo.

Are you raising a new generation off welfare squirrels?

My personal preference would be for a photo mid way between the two. #1 is so saturated that it screams "Unreal" in my mind and #2 looks, to me, like a botched attempt to recover a very poorly exposed unusable photo with post processing heroics.

Others mileage may vary

Both the original and replica Bluenose were/are schooners with TWO masts. Specifically the mainmast(the aft taller mast) and foremast (the shorter mast in front)
I'm not aware of any sail boat that had 8 masts. Perhaps you meant sails? Although in the attached photos i count only 7 sails

Got one Sigma 24-105Art f/4 Very happy with it. UHH's equipment marketplace is a good place to shop.
Thanks all who replied.

I quit Pay Pal about 4 years ago when they successively changed the details of the "agreement" to requir access to my checking account and to allow them to sell my info. A dangerous combination , I thought!